Hamlet
Hamlet is one of William Shakespears tragic plays. It is set in Denmark where we follow Hamlet, the prince through his quest for revenge. Plot The story follows Prince Hamlet as he attempts to seek revenge on his uncle Claudius for murdering his father King Hamlet. Alongside murdering his brother, Claudius also takes his wife, and position in throne. The play opens up in a scene outside the castle where two guards witness the passing by of King Hamlet's ghost. The news is relayed to Prince Hamlet, who decides to see it for himself, and is then called upon by the ghost, who tells Hamlet of his murder. The horrified Prince Hamlet chooses the path of revenge, but before doing so he must seek proof that the ghost was telling the truth. He keeps the info to himself initially, but then tells his best friend Horatio. Hamlet creates a plan involving him acting insane, and the alteration of a play to reinact the events of Claudius murdering King Hamlet, to see if Claudius reacts, which will provide enough evidence that he is guilty. His plan is very risky, as in the progress, he destroys relationships with his friends, his lover Ophelia, and his mother Gertrude. Characters Prince Hamlet The protagonist of the tragedy. He is told by the ghost of his father that his brother and Prince Hamlet's uncle Claudius has murdered him and that he must now take revenge. Hamlet acts insane throughout the play as part of his plan, however his actions affect his loved ones such as his mother Gertrude and lover Ophelia. Claudius The main antagonist of the play. He murdered his brother King Hamlet in order to take his throne and wife. Prince Hamlet is now seeking revenge on him. Claudius understands his actions were bad, however does not feel remorse as he did it for his own ambitions. Gertrude Prince Hamlet's mother, ex-wife of King Hamlet, and wife of Claudius. She is completely unaware of Claudius' evil actions. Ophelia Hamlet's lover and daughter of the King's counsellor Polonius. She is told by her brother and father to forget him and that Hamlet's love is fake and temporary, as he is destined to marry someone of higher status. She is shocked when she finds Hamlet acting insane and mistreats her badly. She takes part in the plan to discover the reason behind Hamlet's madness. Polonius The cheif counsellor of the King. He advises Claudius in his decisions and insists Hamlet has gone mad due to Ophelia neglecting him. Even though Claudius insists that it is something else, Polonius creates plans to discover the true reason Hamlet is mad. Laertes The son of Polonius. Early in the play he leaves off for France. When he hears about the new of his father's death, he returns to Denmark to seek revenge on his father's murderer. To Be or Not to Be "To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?—To die,—to sleep,— No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to,—’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. To die,—to sleep;— To sleep: perchance to dream:—ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there’s the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, The pangs of despis’d love, the law’s delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would these fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death,— The undiscover’d country, from whose bourn No traveller returns,—puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought; And enterprises of great pith and moment, With this regard, their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action." The soliloquy often titled as "to be or not to be" is one of the most famous speeches in the English language. It is spoken by prince Hamlet in act III scene I. In his speech, Hamlet argues whether it is worth commiting suicide. He compares death to sleep, and that death would be an escape from the harsh events that occur in our lives, such as how when we have a rough day, we look forward to the end of the day when we get to go home, relax and sleep. Our dreams are the escape from reality, where there are no problems, the same way death is our escape from life. However, when we sleep, our dreams can turn into nightmares. Hamlet starts to talk about the uncertainty death might bring us. There is the possibility of punishment in the afterlife, which is worst than all the suffering in the mortal world for it is eternal. He says that no one would want to bear all the suffering in the mortal world, but the fact that we do not know if there is an afterlife, we cannot gamble the fact we might have even worst suffering when we kill ourselves, thus our conscience makes cowards of us all. Theme Revenge is all consuming. If you aren't careful, it will take you down also. At the beginning of the play, we are told by the ghost of king Hamlet that he was murdered by his brother Claudius, and he sets Prince Hamlet on the path of revenge, by telling him he needs to get back at Claudius. Hamlet does agree to this, but due to uncertainty, he decides he needs to prove that the ghost of his father is telling the truth. He creates a plan to act insane and get some reactions out of the people he knows. With the initial death of his father, his mother marrying Claudius, and now his set destiny, Hamlet's act of insanity begins to not seem like an act. He starts to debate whether or not the ghost of his father was telling the truth. At some points in the play, he also contemplates suicide, especially in the his most famous lines "to be or not to be," His relationship with Ophelia is ruined when Claudius and Polonius convince Ophelia to confront Hamlet. The meeting does go so well, with Hamlet practically verbally abusing her. Claudius does not believe Hamlet is mad due to love but Polonius still sticks by his theory. Hamlet also breaks off his relationships with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, his two friends. He hides his plans for revenge from them, and tells them off when he says they cannot play him like an instrument. Later on in the play, he even goes as far as getting them killed to get off a ship and return to Denmark. Hamlet's relationship with his mother is also affected by his actions. He ends up verbally and physically abusing her as well, during their meeting after the play Hamlet set up. At this point, it is highly questionable if he truly went insane or not, as the rush gets to him and he accidently stabs Polonius when he though Claudius was hiding behind the curtain. This poor instinctive action ultimately lead to Hamlet's death, as Laertes, the son of Polonius, ironically now seeks ro avenge his father on Hamlet, who was originally trying to avenge his father.